


Decisions

by Beek_100



Series: Oneshots [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Homophobic Language, Jealousy, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 12:45:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19791163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beek_100/pseuds/Beek_100
Summary: At Shane and Lori's wedding, secret boyfriends Daryl and Paul are faced with a dilemma.





	Decisions

“I still don’t get why we gotta go to this thing”, Daryl grumbled, fixing his tie in the hall mirror.

“Because they are our friends, and we are going to support Rick and Michonne as well”, Paul replied, emerging from the bedroom exuding beauty and sex appeal in a tailored black suit and tie.

Daryl openly gawked for a few seconds before he recovered.

“Shane’s still gonna be an asshole, whether or not it’s his weddin’ day”

“I know. And I know we need to be extra careful because he hangs out with Merle, so no heavy drinking tonight”

Daryl met his eyes sullenly.

“Paul…”

“I know, Dar, I understand why we have to do it, I’ve understood for over a year, but it does still suck”

“I’m sorry”

Paul stepped forward and cupped Daryl’s face.

“Don’t be, I get it baby. Your brother is a crazy motherfucker and we do not need to deal with his bullshit or put you in danger”

“More worried about _you_ ”

“ _Don’t._ I can take care of myself. I’m already out as gay publically anyway and I’m not afraid to kick an old man’s ass like Merle’s”

Paul’s attempt at humour worked as Daryl’s bark of laughter broke the tension.

****

The wedding ceremony had been beautiful- romance and flowers and personalised vows. Clearly orchestrated by the bride and not Shane.

“Lori does look spectacular, I have to say”, Daryl overheard Denise murmuring to Tara. The newlyweds were in the middle of their first dance.

“Don’t let Michonne hear you say that”, the psychiatrist’s girlfriend responded.

“I did. And I completely agree”, Michonne announced as she re-joined the group at their table.

“That’s just cause you need them to babysit next week”, Daryl sassed, earnng a middle finger from Michonne and a high-pitched peal of giggling from his left.

Daryl winced.

Carol’s friend, Andrea, was nice enough, but hadn’t left his side since Carol had introduced them earlier. It had been nice talking to someone new at first, but Daryl was aware he couldn’t get too friendly unless he wanted to lead the poor woman on. That, and face the wrath of his boyfriend.

His boyfriend, who was sitting on the other side of Andrea, making idle small talk with Aaron and Eric with a stony expression on his pretty face.

“So, how long has it been since Rick and Lori divorced?” Andrea stage-whispered very close to his ear. _When had she got so close?_

He rolled his eyes at Carol when she smirked at their proximity.

“’Bout six, seven years now”, he answered, subtly moving to put some space between them.

“Aww, it’s good that they all get along so well now, and Rick and Michonne can support them on their special day”, she simpered, placing a hand on Daryl’s thigh, “And it’s really good of you to be supportive too, considering Rick’s your best friend and we all know how Shane and Lori got together”

As soon as her hand twitched as if to move, Daryl shot up from his seat, loudly announcing his need to use the bathroom and ignoring the confused looks the rest of the table gave him as he swiftly walked away. As he scurried to the ballroom exit, he glanced back and wad dismayed to see Andrea had turned her attention to Paul.

****

_C’mon Dixon, man up and go back out there, you’ve been in here too long._

Daryl paced up and down in front of the cubicles, chewing his thumbnail. But he couldn’t make himself rejoin the group. He was lucky no one had come in to find him yet—

He froze as the door was pushed open, and relaxed when he saw it was Paul, whose stony expression was still firmly in place.

“Got told to come and make sure you hadn’t drowned in the toilet”, he stated, arms folded.

“By who?”

“Your new _friend_ ”, Paul sneered.

“Paul—“

“Of course, that was only after she was done telling me she hoped I own noise-cancelling headphones for _when_ she comes back to our place tonight. Think I’ll stay at Tara’s if it’s all the same to you. Wouldn’t want to get in the way”

“Paul—“

He wasn’t able to get another word out before Paul had spun and stormed back out through the bathroom door.

Daryl let out a growl and punched the stall door next to him. This was why he didn’t want to come to this thing. He didn’t want some blonde Carol was friends with. He wanted Paul. He _loved_ Paul.

Daryl froze and stared at his reflection in the mirror opposite.

He loved Paul. Even though he he’d been too much of a pussy to say it out loud yet, he thought Paul must have known. But judging from the hurt in his eyes, maybe not.

Why the fuck did he care what people think? If they wanted to call him a fag, that was their problem. The only issue was Merle- if his brother heard Daryl was gay, he’s make their lives Hell. He loved his brother, but Merle could never see past the end of his nose about certain issues, and they had been raised to be assholes by their father. Daryl had only become the good, caring person he was today because of Rick and Paul and their friends who were more like family than Merle had ever been. Daryl didn’t want to bring anymore drama or hurt to Paul’s life than he’d already had to suffer, growing up the way he had.

But.

He was already hurting him. Daryl could see that it was draining Paul having to pretend. The younger man had Tara pushing random men onto him all the time, and his excuses for saying no were wearing thin. Nothing terrified Daryl more than the idea of Paul one day changing his answer and leave his pathetic, closeted ass.

Hiding behind closed doors and acting like they were just friends in public was becoming too much for Daryl as well. He had had to physically stop himself from reaching out and casually touching Paul when they were out places, catch himself before he accidentally called Paul a pet name in front of someone and sleep on the uncomfortable spare room bed that paraded as ‘his bed’ when people stayed over.

Enough was enough. This was ridiculous.

Giving himself a nod in the mirror, he made up his mind. He squared his shoulders and marched out of the bathroom back into the ballroom, where a slow ballad had just begun to play.

He caught sight of Paul sitting alone at their table, all the couples having abandoned him to dance. He weaved through the swaying bodies on the edge of the dancefloor and had almost reached his destination before a small but strong hand gripped his forearm and the voice he’d been forced to listen to all night reached his ear.

“There you are! I thought you’d gotten lost”, Andrea purred, her second hand joining the first to stroke his bicep, “You don’t seem like a dancer, wanna go find somewhere a little more private?”

Daryl glanced down at her and gave her his best attempt at a kind smile before extracting himself from her grip, stepping away once he had.

“Actually, I do dance, but only with my boyfriend”, he said, smirking as her face fell in shock. He turned round to find Paul a step away from them, his own face a picture of disbelief and joy.

Daryl moved forward and reached for Paul’s hand to tug him onto the dancefloor with the others, but the other man resisted.

“What about Shane and Merle?” he murmured.

“We’ll deal with that when it comes to it, right now I just wanna dance with you and forget the bullshit”

Paul practically glowed as he allowed Daryl to drag him to join their friends. The two men ignored the looks from other guests as they entwined together and began to move to the melody.

Paul grinned up at him before tucking his head under Daryl’s chin. The mechanic glanced up to see Rick staring at them with a soft expression. As their eyes met, Rick gave him a small nod, conveying the silent message. _Everything’s fine, I approve._

Daryl nodded back and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Paul’s head.

****

“ _Fuck_ Daryl”, Paul breathed out in a harsh gasp, “Keep doing that--just like that”

Daryl smirked as much as he could with Paul’s dick in his throat. He swallowed around it and relished how it made the other man’s legs tremble.

“ _God,_ you’re fuck—fucking incredible”, Paul whimpered as he tangled his fingers in Daryl’s hair.

Daryl bobbed his head a few more times before pulling away with a pop and replacing his mouth with his hand. He looked up and grinned wolfishly at Paul’s wrecked expression.

After a few moments of watching his partner try to stop himself from bucking into his hand, Daryl stood, letting go of his cock and pulling Paul into a demanding kiss. He pulled away and waited for his eyes to open.

“I love you”, he said softly as their gazes met. Paul beamed.

“I love you too”, he replied shakily, eyes welling up as their lips met again.

****

“Remember the first time we did that?” Paul muttered as he caught his breath.

“Mmhmm”

“You freaked out and disappeared hunting for 2 days”

“Then we agreed it should be a one-time thing”

“And ended up back in bed almost immediately”

“Pretty sure it was the couch”

“Same difference”

The two men laughed before settling back into silence that was broken by Daryl’s phone buzzing.

He kissed Paul before grabbing it, groaning when he saw the name on the screen.

“Fuck”

“What?”

“Shane works fast”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s Merle”

“Oh, fuck”

_Time to man up and face their problems together._

*

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos welcome!


End file.
